Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Shadows of Insu Village (3)
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Just in case, I reactivated my detection spell to double-check the house.
‘Yeah, there’s still more stuff, but nothing major.’
Sundry tools, firearms, and keys. Items placed here for quest convenience, no doubt.
‘But nothing a wizard like me needs.’
The unexamined room was littered with beast pelts and animal carcasses. Probably the village head’s real bed, as he lost his human form. Or maybe just props to mess with the player.
‘Guess I’ll just take the ocarina from the safe.’
Most of it could be substituted with magic anyway. No need to rummage further and increase the risk.
I slowly moved to the window. The very one the villagers had been peeking through earlier.
“Ugh.”
The window was covered in handprints, pressed close together. What do they have on their hands? Shiny, oily texture? No, more like slime?
Getting closer to inspect the prints, I noticed something odd.
The five fingers on the palms were freakishly elongated, with sharp claws protruding like talons. And above all...
‘There’s something between the fingers.’
Webbing? Like frog feet? So they really are frog-like.
A strange chill crept over me.
“Huh...?”
The window receded. No, did I step back?
Weird. This feels seriously ominous.
At this point, even I could guess. I don’t know exactly what they are, but these things are monsters tied to my phobias.
‘Right. There are werewolves, so... humans must exist too.’
What a pain.
Nothing’s confirmed yet. Past me, Kim Shin-hwa, must have put me here knowing there was a way out.
No, does that bastard past me not have phobias? How did he come up with this insane idea?
Ignoring for a moment that he’s me, I grumbled a bit before extending my senses out the window.
Damp, humid, and reeking of fish—unpleasant magic enveloped the surroundings.
‘Surprisingly, it’s not locked from this side.’
I formed telekinesis with my magic and opened the window.
Creak...
“Urp!”
This I didn’t expect. A horrific fishy stench poured in from outside.
Nausea surged. My stomach contracted, throat tightened. Before I knew it, my back bent and my hand flew to my mouth.
Damn, a headache-inducing rotten fish smell.
Creak, click!
Too distracted to think, I slammed the window shut.
“Haa, what the hell?”
I nearly puked for real. They really pull out all the stops. This village is certifiably insane.
Hesitation again.
“...”
Wait a second.
Why am I moving so passively?
Because of fear?
Sure, it’s smart to minimize risks, but this feels excessive.
I could’ve attacked and captured those peeking bastards outside.
“Hmm—”
I straightened my back, stretched my arms side to side.
Crack, pop.
My artifact-less, frail body made gruesome sounds. But it woke me up.
“Alright.”
Dragging this out passively isn’t getting anywhere.
“Getting sick of pussyfooting around anyway.”
Live or die, time to move. Not much time left. I headed for the front door.
[Unlock]
Rustle, click, clack. Beep!
The village head had locks galore, but they were no obstacle for me.
Shoes... Good, at least those are still here.
A large mirror between the inner door and entrance reflected my image. Sneakers, baggy yellow hemp clothes like prison garb. And a bizarre frog-faced mask. A strange wizard stared back.
‘Some outfit.’
I crossed the short yard and stepped out the gate.
Screech—
I looked around, but...
“Not much to see.”
A pallid, eerie fog blanketed the village.
“That damn battlefield fog again?”
It wasn’t thick enough to blind completely. Blurry human shapes and buildings loomed through it.
And far off, people’s shadows.
Those guys from before.
“Huuu-! Aauuu-! Haa-!”
“Huuu-! Hau! Uuuu-!”
They shuffled along, chanting some weird song.
No lyrics. Like the throat-singing in pansori, but not pleasant.
Maybe an alien tongue humans can’t comprehend.
“Uuuu-! Aauuu-! Huuu-!”
“Where are they headed?”
The sounds faded. Looking that way, a massive mountain shadow loomed beyond the fog. Heading into the mountains?
Follow the villagers?
‘Choice time.’
Following them leads to the mountains. No boat there, so for the boat, go opposite?
“If I had one companion, we could split and check both.”
No such luck.
‘No choice.’
I pulled a red orb from my pocket.
Made from the blood I spilled opening the safe. Better medium would be ideal, but beggars can’t be choosers. I infused it with magic.
[Blood Tracker]
A spell I picked up messing with flesh golems.
Squish, glorp. Splorch.
The blood droplet mutated in the orb-body, gaining a big maw and a pair of wings.
“Squeek, gruuu....”
The blood beast flapped its wings, wriggled, then perched on my finger.
“Good boy.”
I kissed its crimson wing lightly and named it.
“Name... let’s go with Reddy.”
“Squeeee....”
Name doesn’t matter. It won’t live long anyway. I gave Reddy some orders and sent it off.
Flutter—
“Alright. Reddy’ll check what those nice villagers are up to.”
Now, find the boat.
But where’s the sea? If this is an island... opposite the mountain?
The fog, laced with dank magic, interfered with detection, but “It’s not that dense.”
Plus real-time info from Reddy.
Fog density varies by location. Thicker near the mountain. So head thinner fog way to reach the coast.
[Mountain Goat’s Tread]
Added a stamina-boost spell, then followed the central village path.
Squelch. Slosh, squelch.
Unlike the village head’s decent house, the road was bumpy, muddy slop.
And this heavy, humid air. Even suppressed by magic, my skin prickled from the fishy reek within.
An unsettling dissonance.
Then, out of nowhere, a stray sound brushed my ear.
“Hangru, grunama— Grkul, rie— Ganagul— Hatan.”
A bizarre whisper from the fog. Same tone as the villagers’ keening song earlier.
“Hanglu, glunama— Krulpf, rie— Ganagun— Pahan.”
Chanted like a song, repeating.
“Grul hatan, grulg hatan.”
I halted, ducked behind a nearby fence, and cast a spell.
[Faded Presence]
Hiding my presence, I blended into the fog and fence, peering toward the sound.
Squelch— Slosh— Squelch— Squelch.
People. Specifically, elders.
‘Different from those earlier guys.’
Far more human-looking. Not everyone in the village is a monster, then.
But their appearances were the only normal thing.
The elders chanted that eerie song with dazed expressions, performing incomprehensible actions.
Squelch— Squelch— Squelch— Squelch—
‘What are they doing?’
Gold threads, talismans, and mud. Sealing the gate?
They strung gold threads around the gate, pasted talismans, then slathered mud to build a wall.
Primitive and crude, but it was a barrier.
‘Something about a Dragon King Festival tomorrow?’
Past me’s message mentioned “Dragon King Festival.”
And a ritualist circling the village.
‘Get caught by the ritualist, fed to the Dragon King?’
Gruesome party.
As expected, not for humans.
No specific village intel came to mind, but I’d seen similar scenarios.
‘A village of enslaved humans ruled by cannibalistic otherkin.’
Squelch, squelch— Squelch— Drip—
Desperate hands piling mud. The repetitive chant.
“Hangru, grunama— Grkul, rie— Ganagul— Hatan.”
“...”
Even with amnesia, I wasn’t so dense I couldn’t grasp it.
‘Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.’
The prayer to Cthulhu slumbering in the deep sea.
A dialect version passed down here?
Worshipping Cthulhu instead of the Dragon King? A bit off, but possible. The moment that thought hit, a buzzing headache pierced my skull.
“Ugh....”
Sudden headache. What? A memory almost surfaced. A massive shadow in the fog. The village’s bizarre layout.
Frustrating. Wish memories came in bite-sizes.
Grab a villager for interrogation? Like that one over there...
‘Too many people around now. Check the boat first, come back.’
I left the bizarre villagers behind and walked on.
Squelch— Squelch—
Magic helped, but clinging mud made it tough.
“...”
No sound you’d expect by the sea.
No waves. Intense fish stench, but... not sea air.
‘This village... no sea?’
Something fundamentally wrong dawned on me.
The fog thinned as I walked, but the stench intensified. Yet it was quiet.
Unnervingly so.
My heart raced for no reason.
Felt like a completely wrong call. Don’t go further.
And then I emerged fully from the fog.
‘The fog ended?’
Open vista.
Barren hills, mountains, trees stretching far.
No way.
‘No... sea.’
Mountains.
Insu Village was a hidden hamlet in the mountains.
Find a boat? What the hell?
A bit farther, an even stranger sight.
A vast trench along the village border. No, a valley?
Wait...
“Reservoir? No, lake?”
Or river? Traces of one?
Reason I couldn’t tell quick: what should’ve been there wasn’t.
No water.
Just a deep trench encircling the village. The riverbed completely dry.
And in the puddles dotting the bottom, amid the horrific fishy stench, lay countless dead bodies.
Scaled. Tiny. Glimmering. Some twitching faintly. Revolting. Swarming. Immense numbers. Chilling. Tangled. Nauseating. Slippery. Repulsive. Rotting. Disgusting. Teeming. Horrific.
Fish.